We were trapped. I could feel the predator moving through the trees, following us as we crashed through the forest. But why wasn't it attacking? It seemed like it was testing us, watching. I gripped Octavia as close as I could and ran deeper into the forest. I heard Finn call to Clarke from behind and turned to see she had tried to go back for Jasper. I myself had thought about scaling the river on the vine, but realized it was pointless, there was no way I could carry Jasper back over the river in one piece if he wasn't already dead and there were five more of us that were in danger as well. If only we could find cover, then we could figure out what we needed to do.

Up ahead, Monty tripped on something and went down hard. I gently let loose of Octavia and we both struggled to lift him, "Get up!"

My grip tightened as I saw what Monty had tripped over and nearly fallen on. The rib of a skeleton lay among an assortment of other bones, dirtied and rotting. The stench of sickness filled my nose and I almost gagged.

"Who are they?" Finn asked in disgust and fear.

I turned to Clarke who had picked up what I feared to be a skull. My stomach dropped as I saw that it was definitely not completely human, something of a mix between ape and human "What are they?"

"We're so screwed." Octavia muttered, gripping my shoulder.

The awful screams of Jasper broke the silence and Clarke dropped the skull, "Jasper, he's alive." Then she took off despite the pleas of Finn to wait.

I ran after her, momentarily leaving Octavia leaning against a tree, and grabbed Clarke's arm, "Wait! Stay in the trees." She nodded in affirmation and bile rose in my throat as I looked across the river. Jasper was gone.

"He was right there!" Octavia said in disbelief, "Where is he?"

"They took him." Clarke muttered.

"We have to get out of here. Go back to the camp and get help." I pleaded with Clarke. Whatever these things were, they were much more capable than us. To my knowledge, an animal couldn't be intelligent enough to craft a spear and set a trap, as this predator was obviously doing. Which led me to believe something far more terrifying than I could accept just yet.

Clarke looked reluctantly to the spot where Jasper had last been seen, "Let's go." Finn dragged Clarke away and we followed. Everyone was silent as we traversed back through the forest the way we came. Clarke had shrugged Finn's comforting arm off of her shoulder and was now silently following the map to take us back to the camp.

The temperature seemed to have dropped, causing the clammy sweat on my body to stick in some very unpleasant places. This was more movement than I had done in my entire life, being confined to one room, though the drugs I had been given had kept me in perfect health physical wise. I have no idea how Octavia was managing on the other hand. I would think being locked in the floor for the better part of one's life could really take a toll. And there was the whole getting eaten by a giant snake thing.

After several minutes of a paced jog, we slowed down to a fast walk. I tried my best to help Octavia as much as possible, I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable her leg must have been, rubbing against the harsh fabric of her pants. Blood ran down her leg, reopened from the excitement of the chase, yet she only slightly grimaced.

Some of the scenery started to look familiar as we finally reached the outskirts of the camp. Clarke and the others raced ahead as I struggled to get Octavia down a steep edge.

"Wells! Let him go!" Clarke yelled as we came upon Wells holding the angry boy, who I decided to call Grumpy, from earlier by the neck at knifepoint. From what it looked like, they had both got in a few good hits. No doubt Grumpy had started it. Wells looked terrified, only as if he were trying to protect himself.

Clarke ran straight into the altercation and after a silent exchange, Wells forcefully pushed Grumpy away. Before Grumpy could go after Wells again, Bellamy appeared and held him back. I realized that once again everyone had been standing around staring, doing nothing to stop what could have easily just been a murder.

Octavia grunted as we both jumped from a small ledge and onto level ground. Bellamy immediately forgot the altercation and ran up to us. He gave me a quick worried and questioning look before reaching for Octavia, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Octavia nodded to me in appreciation and let Bellamy support her, "Where's the food?" Bellamy asked aggravated.

Everyone stood still, lost as to how to possibly explain, "We didn't make it to Mount Weather." Finn sighed as he sat on a rock.

"What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy asked, growing angrier by the second.

"We were attacked." I said quietly. Bellamy looked to me then back to his sister, "Attacked? By what?"

"Not what. Who. Turns out we're not the only ones down here" Finn spoke up.

Bellamy looked to Octavia in disbelief, "It's true."

"Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here. Survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us." Everyone began to crowd around, listening intently. I couldn't help but slightly intake at Clarke's words, as if the mere mention of radiation would start raising questions about me. I felt exposed, as if everyone knew what I was.

"The bad news is the Grounders will." Finn grimly added to Clarke's inspiring speech. His slang for the people who had attacked Jasper seemed to catch on as whispers drifted through the air.

Now I not only had to protect myself from a bunch of juvenile delinquents, but who knows how many murdering crazy radiation-filled predators.

"Where is the kid with the goggles?" Wells looked around, just noticing Jasper was no longer in our party. I ground my teeth and looked down.

"Jasper was hit. They took him." Clarke shuffled, looking as uncomfortable and apprehensive as I felt. Outrage sounded through camp.

"Where's your wristband?" Clarke ignored the cries and grabbed for Wells' wrist, pulling the sleeve up and seeing that nothing was there. I leaned in, waiting for his answer.

"Ask him." Wells nodded to Bellamy in resentment. So that was what he had been planning. I quickly put the pieces together. So did Clarke, it seemed.

"How many?' Clarke advanced on Bellamy, like a little blonde Tasmanian devil. I almost laughed at the apprehension on his face.

"Twenty-four and counting." Grumpy spoke up, blood running down his face.

I didn't really know what to think about it all. If Bellamy could convince everyone to abandon their wrist bands, theoretically, the Arc wouldn't come down. I had my own reasons for ditching the wristband of course, but what about the others? Everyone on the Arc would die, although I resented those few people I had known in space, I couldn't condemn them all. I couldn't accept that they would all die. They had to know it was ok to come down. However, that would have to be a job for Clarke, who I was fully confident could handle herself, I had my own problems to deal with.

"You idiots." Clark whispered in disbelief. I surveyed Clarke once again. She must have had someone she really cared about up in the Arc. Someone she wanted to see again, unlike most of the others down here. Including me.

"Life support on the Arc is failing. That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands you're not just killing them. You're killing us!" Clarke now addressed everybody. I agreed with her.

Bellamy quickly stepped forward in retaliation, "We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her, she's one of the privileged. If they come down she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm, it makes you a prisoner. We're not prisoners anymore. They say they'll forgive your crimes, I say you're not criminals! You're fighters! Survivors! The Grounders should worry about us." Cheers of agreement sounded through the camp. I had to give it to him, the guy was a pretty good motivational speaker. But I knew he had a hidden agenda behind it all. He didn't want the others to come down to save his own skin. He had just made a very convincing manipulation of the situation. I could almost believe him. But as I saw the blood on Grumpy's face, I knew that these really were criminals, and horribly decision-making flawed teenagers at that.

Clarke looked around horrified at the the others and stormed away, with Monty and Wells close behind him. Finn nodded to me then followed Wells into the drop ship. The rest of the campers started to slowly disperse. I started to follow after Clarke, but was pulled back by Octavia, "Bellamy, meet my knight in shining armor. Alice." Octavia happily shoved me in the direction of Bellamy. I managed to stop myself just before I stumbled right into his chest.

"Alice." Bellamy nodded stiffly and Octavia grunted as she took a seat on a rock, sticking her injured leg out. I had seen Clarke tend to the wound enough by now to know what needed to be done.

I immediately turned to her and spoke to Bellamy, "Do you have a wet cloth?"

Bellamy looked around questioningly then produced a piece of cloth from his pants pocket, I reached out to grab it and had to contain myself when our fingers touched. This was the first time I had come into contact with a teenage boy outside of a deathly situation. Give me a break.

As I kneeled on one side and ripped the material of her jeans further down to look at the injury, Bellamy sat down on the other side of the rock and looked at the blood wearily. I gently padded the blood and winced as Octavia groaned, her leg shaking.

"What the hell was it?" Bellamy asked tiredly.

"I don't know." Octavia answered between breaths.

"It was like some giant snake. It felt awful." I mumbled, looking up to Bellamy and meeting his eyes for only a moment.

"Wait, you felt it? Were you in there too?" Bellamy looked slightly approving.

"I told you. My knight in shining armor. She jumped in and sucker punched the thing in the face. Then taught herself to swim in two seconds and drug me back to shore!" Octavia smiled and patted me on the head like a dog.

"You could have been killed." Bellamy admonished his sister after giving me what I thought was a nod of thanks.

"She would have been if Alice didn't jump in to pull her out." Clarke approached from behind, followed by Wells and Finn.

"Are you guys leaving? I'm coming too." Octavia raised to follow them but was stopped by Bellamy who pushed her back down on the rock.

"No, no. No way. Not again."

"He's right, you're leg's just going to slow us down." Clarke said coldly. Man was that girl on a mission. She turned to Bellamy, "I'm here for you."

"Clarke what are you doing?" Wells warned.

"I hear you have a gun." Bellamy lifted his shirt in affirmation and I recoiled slightly. How had he managed that? I had only ever seen a gun once before and it had been one time too many. The things might make you feel strong and in control when you're using them, but it was a whole different story when they were pointed at you.

"Good, follow me." Clarke turned and walked away, expecting Bellamy to follow.

"Why would I do that?" Bellamy stood his ground.

"Because you want them to follow you and right now they're thinking only one of us is scared." I was beginning to see the badass side of Clarke.

"Murphy, come with me. Atom, my sister doesn't leave this camp, is that clear?" Bellamy had been convinced. All it took was a jab at his authority. So Grumpy's real name was Murphy huh? I liked Grumpy better. Another handsome boy stepped forward, Atom I presumed.

"I don't need a babysitter." Octavia fixed her pants and stared defiantly.

"Anyone touches her, they answer to me." Bellamy warned Atom who nodded in understanding.

"Let's go." Bellamy ordered and walked away without another word. I took one last glance at Octavia then followed. There was no way I wasn't going to try and help Jasper. Not if I could help it.

"You don't much seem like the rescuing type." I observed aloud as I matched pace with Bellamy.

He glared at me then replied, "The Arc thinks the Prince is dead. I'd say if the Princess is too, they'll never come down." I saw Clarke look back menacingly then continue walking.

Then in a lower voice that I could barely hear he added, "I'm getting that wristband, even if I have to cut off her arm to get it." Grumpy grinned maliciously and Bellamy increased his pace to catch up with Clarke. Oh this was going to be fun.

If only he knew that my wristband was the one that would bring the Arc down. But he didn't have to worry, it was coming off as soon as I could get the chance.

"Hey hold up!" As Bellamy, Grumpy, and I caught up to Clarke, he raised his gun smiling and asked, "What's the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart."

"Put the gun away Bellamy." Wells warned, stepping forward only to be pushed away by Grumpy.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart he would have died instantly. That doesn't mean we have time to waste." Clarke retorted in annoyance and anger.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and grabbed Clarke's wrist, "As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go."

Clarke jerked her hand away and said, "The only way the Arc is going to think I'm dead, is if I'm dead. Got it?" I stopped myself from remarking, don't push your luck Clarke, Bellamy might just arrange that for you.

"Brave Princess." Bellamy advanced on Clarke menacingly and I could see the perspiration on his forehead.

Once again, I put myself between two people and said, "You call this a rescue party? Let's split up."

Finn walked up from behind and said, "Clarke and Alice, come with me." And just like that it was over as we walked away. I glanced back to see Bellamy glaring.

"Better late than never." Clarke muttered in reference to breaking up the argument.

"I like to think so." Finn nodded to me and we continued into the forest.

After a while, Finn spoke up, "I've been thinking about Mount Weather. How come they didn't attack until Jasper crossed the river? It's not like we were being quiet and they didn't know we were there."

Clarke looked up in realization, "They waited for us to cross. The river's a boundary."

"Which means Mount Weather's off limits." Finn replied.

I had guessed as much. The attack had been too calculated to just be a random ambush.

"How are we going to get the supplies. And what about food?" I asked the obvious question. Who ever said this was going to be easy?

Finn seemed to be lost in thought, then suddenly, he took off with my question left hanging in the air. Clarke looked to me and rolled her eyes then we followed.

As we drew closer, I knew what had caught his attention. A waterfall. As beautiful as I could have imagined, "Well at least we don't have to worry about water." I turned to face Clarke and Finn, smiling. A wicked grin crossed Finn's face as he stared at me and Clarke, then he walked across the stones and into the water.

I followed and soon found myself knee deep in chilly water. The Arc didn't have showers and it had been a very long time since I remembered cleaning myself. I raised my arms and fell back into the water, causing a rather large splash and prompting laughs from Clarke and Finn. The water felt amazing now that I wasn't being chased by a mutant serpent. It was like magic, floating in the smooth waves of the pool.

Clarke bent down to fill up the water container and Finn splashed her with the water, "Come on guys, we don't have time for this." She admonished, now serious.

"Clarke, we've been hiking for hours. It's time to take a break." Finn replied with a smile.

"I'll take a break when we find Jasper. Come on."

Finn winked at me then grabbed for Clarke, pulling her into the water despite her threats, "Damnit Finn!" Clarke splashed his face and struggled in the water. As she finally felt what I had just experienced, her demeanor changed, "Oh wow, maybe just a minute." She said smiling.

I laughed in accordance with Finn and swam over to small rock jutting from the water.

"I think I know why you're so hell bent on finding Jasper, why you're always taking care of everybody else." Finn spoke low and I took the hint, looking around at everything but them. I didn't have to tune them out for long as I saw something that made my stomach twist. I jumped out of the water onto the rock and walked over to a small space covered in red.

"Guys." I called, nearly hyperventilating. I knew too well what it was. Blood. My dreams had been stained with it since before I could remember. Usually it was mine. It covered the rocks and one particularly haunting handprint lay on the top. As the two approached, Clarke seemed to notice something and reached down below the rocks, pulling out a familiar pair of goggles, "Jasper. He was here, we should get the others."

This was Jasper's blood. There was so much of it. I forced my eyes to look away as Finn followed Clarke away from the rocks. We soon found Bellamy and the others and Clarke told them about the bloody rocks. With new purpose, we quickly came upon what looked like an open road.

"How do we know this is the right way?" The ever optimistic Grumpy piped up.

"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he is a tracker." Bellamy replied, annoyed.

"It's called cutting sign. Fourth year Earth skills. He's good." Wells retorted.

I winced at the mention of lessons and school. It reminded me just how different I was from these people. I had obviously not been allowed to attend and was seriously lacking in the whole academics department. Everything I knew was from literature, mostly children's story.

"You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your back." Finn turned around angrily. I ignored the conversation as my fingers started to twitch. Before I could say anything, Finn came upon a broken twig from a branch. He crouched down to see a small splatter of blood on the ground. An awful call sounded from the trees, "What the hell was that?"

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun." Clarke spoke to Bellamy, wildly searching the trees.

My feet started to move of their own accord, taking me into the a jumble of trees. I was relieved to hear the others following close behind, but stopped dead in my tracks as I emerged from the trees to behold Jasper. Shirtless, bloody, and tied to a huge tangled tree. The sight was horrific. He seemed to barely be breathing and as I glanced at his tied up purple hands, awful memories flashed through my head of my own blood clogged hands.

"Jasper? Oh my God! Jasper!" Clarke rushed to reach him but Finn grabbed her back.

I rushed past the both of them and gasped as the world fell out from underneath me. I flung my hands out, grabbing for something. Anything. And felt my body yank in two as something grabbed my arm. I looked up to see Bellamy, panting but holding my arm with a grip of steel. The sleeve of my shirt rolled back underneath Bellamy's hand and I saw as he glanced down. His eyebrows furrowed and I knew what he saw. Mauled flesh covered in bruises and track marks. I heard others yelling to pull me up then felt myself being lifted as they grabbed Bellamy and pulled him back.

"Alice!" Clarke gasped, grabbing my shoulder. I nodded, and self consciously pulled both of my sleeves down as far as they could go. Bellamy stood close beside me, still looking confusedly at my arms. Finn helped me up and I looked down the hole I had almost fell in. Spikes jutted out from the bottom. That would have hurt.

A moan from Jasper brought my attention back to him, "We need to get him down."

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn said determinedly.

"Yeah I'm with you." Wells made to follow him.

"No. Stay with Alice and Clarke. And watch him." Finn nodded to Bellamy in disgust, "You. Let's go." Grumpy followed Finn behind the tree.

"There's a poultice on his wound." Clarke observed. A green mess of herbs was packed on Jasper's wound.

"Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells asked.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes it's dinner to be breathing." Bellamy retorted.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." I said quietly.

Finn and Grumpy slowly made their way up the tree and began to cut the vines. What sounded like a a growl came from the growth behind the tree and Grumpy looked up in alarm, "What the hell was that?"

"Grounders?" Bellamy nervously offered. Suddenly, from behind the brush we had come from, a huge cat came slinking towards us. It's jaws were bigger than my head and every inch of its huge lean body seemed to ripple with strong muscles.

"Bellamy! Gun!" Clarke cried. He reached for the gun but it was gone. A shot rang out right next to me, making me jump. At some point, Wells had stolen the gun and now unsuccessfully fired at the animal, only hitting it once in the hide. It ran into the cover of some brush and everything stilled for a moment. Bellamy stared into the growth, looking to see if it was alive, then with a terrifying roar, it jumped at him. Another shot rang and the animal fell mid air.

Bellamy stood, too stunned to move and looked to Wells who dropped the now empty gun, "Now she see's you." Bellamy nodded towards Clarke after a moment of shocked silence. Whatever that was about.

A shuffle drew my attention back to Grumpy and Finn, who had finally gotten Jasper down and now carried him by the arms over to us.

"Let's get back to camp." Finn offered.

"Wait, first we take our prize." Bellamy smiled and lightly kicked the dead cat. Grumpy abandoned Jasper and roughly took the bag Clarke had been carrying and pulled out a large tarp. As I took Grumpy's place in holding up Jasper, the two proceeded to wrap up the carcass and heave it above their shoulders.

"Looks like we're eating tonight." Grumpy smiled and lead the way back to camp.

My stomach did a half rumble half flip at the thought of eating the cat. Hunting wasn't really a thing on the Arc, considering we were in space, and even then I was locked up in a room the whole time. After all, I always despised the hunters in Bambi. I remembered the razor sharp teeth on the cat and decided that it was nothing like Bambi.

It was nightfall before we neared the camp; Finn and I carrying Jasper and Bellamy and Grumpy carrying the cat. Clarke and Wells lead the way through the dark. I don't know how they did it. I wasn't one for directions. In my room there was only three steps left, four steps right, and five steps forward.

"They're back." Someone called from inside the camp. I inhaled the sweet smell of what I could only imagine was a burning fire. Excited murmurs sounded through the camp as Clarke led me and Finn into the drop ship.

"Is he?" Monty was the first to approach, looking scared at Jasper. They were best friends. Also something I had never had.

"He's alive." Clarke assured Monty, "I need boiled water and strips of cloth for bandage."

Clarke opened the tarp now covering the entry of the dropship and led us in. We awkwardly pulled Jasper up to the second level of the dropship and set him on top of a stack of tarps Clarke had hurriedly laid out. Once he was settled, I rose. This wasn't my scene. I never wanted to be confined again. Clarke seemed to notice my unease and said, "I can take it from here, you can go back outside."

As I emerged from the drop ship, Bellamy and Grumpy dropped the dead cat on the ground for all to see with triumphant smiles on their face. Exclamations of awe sounded and Bellamy raised his hands into the air, "Who's hungry?" Cheers followed. An almost unnoticeable look of exhaustion crossed Bellamy's face, but was quickly covered with a fake, pleased grin as his eyes met mine. He wrapped his arm around Octavia and the others picked up the cat, deciding who was going to prepare it. Soon, everyone was gathered around the fire, talking of nothing but the cat and how it came to be supper for the night.

I took a seat close to the drop ship, just in case Clarke needed anything and watched as the others conversed. It was so strange, watching how normally they interacted with eachother. While all of them had been through something, none of them knew the pain that I had. They hadn't had their entire life taken away from them like I had.

As I stared into the dancing flame, my eyes slowly drooped. I tried to fight it, I didn't want to ever sleep again, but I failed miserably. My arms fell to my side and my body slumped as I finally dozed off to the distant chatter around the fire.

I jumped at the sound of Clarke's voice, "He's stable for now, but without medicine…" My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark light. Beside the fire, a stack of wristbands had begun to pile up, a boy winced as another pried his wristband from him and was awarded a piece of cooked meat by a smiling Bellamy. I went to stand up and realized that a small tarp had been draped across my lap while I was asleep. Who had done that?

"They're taking off their wristbands for food? No way. I won't do it." Clarke declared.

"You won't have to." Finn said grimly and walked straight up to the fire, grabbing a piece of meat.

"Wha.. Wha.. Wait! You think you play by different rules?" Grumpy stopped Finn by grabbing his hand.

Finn pulled away and dangerously replied, "I thought there were no rules."

Grumpy just stared dumbly as Finn walked away. From a distance, Bellamy sent a death stare towards Finn as he returned to Clarke. A boy walked up to the fire, reaching for his own piece, revealing that he still wore his wristband as well. Bellamy grabbed the boy by the hand and drew back, punching him in the face. Everyone stilled and I jumped a little. Bellamy gave a warning glare to anyone that dare defy him and stormed off.

As the camp slowly settled back into an uneasy calm, I rose from my resting place and ventured into the woods, illuminated by the full moon. The chatter of the camp had become a little overwhelming, almost like the constant buzzing of a machine engine. I just wanted to hear the peaceful noises of the forest again.

A tingling sensation throbbed at the back of my neck and I immediately looked to the trees in fright. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw the outline of a man, sitting on a branch. Then a hand grabbed my shoulder and I nearly jumped three feet into the air.

"Relax. Hey, Alice, it's me!" I turned to find Bellamy, raising his arms in a show of peace. A rustle sounded where I had seen the shadow and a bird flew from the tree. I must have been imagining it.

"Jumpy?" Bellamy asked, past his smirk I noted a small grimace.

"I thought I saw something." I defended myself lamely.

"Right. So, I never got to really thank you for helping Octavia." He looked into my eyes and I remembered that he had seen what lay beneath my sleeves. I crossed my arms self consciously, which only brought his attention to them.

"Thank you..." After a moment of awkward silence I added, "For saving me I mean. Back at the tree."

"I couldn't pass up the chance to save a pretty girl. Besides, we're even now." It was strange how his mind worked. All that "eye for an eye" stuff. Nevermind the compliment. I just stood there like a dumb girl and squeeked as he reached for my hand. I actually squeeked. Wow. One minute alone with a guy and I was squeeking.

"Why don't we take this off." His thumb rubbed the cold metal on my wrist. And there it was. The real reason he was talking to me. He only wanted the wristband.

I looked into his dark brown eyes and nodded. The wristband similar to the one that I had pulled out long ago was only a menace. But the minute I took it off, I was alone. When my vitals stopped transmitting to the Arc, it was all over. At least I hoped so.

With one squeeze of my hand, he gripped the wristband and tore it to pieces. I winced as the transmitter was removed from my skin, sending blood running down my wrist and onto the ground. Bellamy pulled my hand forward and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, bunching it up and sticking my wrist to it. I immediately curled my fingers into a fist, not wanting to accidentally grab anything. That would make for an awkward situation. Bellamy, however, smiled with dark eyes. I focused on his warm hands against my cold ones.

When I looked up, I found myself very close to his face, which was quite a few inches higher than mine, "Not what I expected." He murmured as if in mid thought. I had no idea what he was talking about.

I was at a loss for words. Was this what flirting was? I have no idea. After what felt like an hour, he pulled my hand away and examined it. I immediately felt the loss of his warmth. The bleeding had already stopped, leaving a few small flakes of dried blood, but the thing underneath the small incision is what made my heart stop.

A similar scar, but much larger. I hadn't been going for precision when I pulled the thing out four years ago. Bellamy raised my hand to see closer, noticing the scar. I yanked my arm away and stepped back.

"Wait, Alice!" Bellamy called, but it was too late. I ran into the darkness